Category: Music

Four years after “though it were the kiss of death” raised the band’s profile in upstate New York, earning critical raves and extensive airplay on independent radio, the New Paltz , NY quintet The Sweet Clementines have released the sprawling “Lake Victoria.” Graceful and quirky, sweet and sour, overstuffed with melody lyrical imagination, the record is enlivened by the band’s traditional weapons of choice: vibraphones, violins, baroque vocal harmonies, and a dash of the electronic. In eight years of eccentric rocking, this band has cultured its own way of playing together: start with the experimental pop sense of The Beatles (or The Zombies, or XTC), color it with cabaret and circus, ala Tom Waits or Andrew Bird, and, now more than ever, venture into long forms, unafraid of either “J” word: jazz or jam, all in support of the literate, weird, and melancholic songs. The Sweet Clementines are principal songwriter and guitarist John Burdick, bassist Jason Sarubbi, drummer Matt Senzatimore, vocalist/violinist Marianne Tasick, and vibraphonist/keyboardist Paul Carroll

https://thesweetclementines.bandcamp.com

Emily ritz has been a fixture in the Bay Area music scene since she moved there in 2006. The native New Yorker left for California right after high school to study painting and film making at California College of the Arts. Embraced by the music community in SF, Emily found her place there as a performer. She continued to tour and put out albums with the Bay as her home base long after graduating from college. You may recognize her from bands Honeycomb, DRMS, or her more recent project with Kacey Johansing, Yesway. Since her recent move back East to Hudson NY, Emily has been performing under her own name for the first time. Refreshed and energized by her new environment, Emily’s music is constantly evolving. With less odd metered fingerpicking and more rhythmic strumming, her songs are moving in a new direction though her sound is still very much influenced by her time in California. With a heavy delay on her electric guitar and dreamy vocals, you can expect a lush and powerful live performance.

www.emilyritz.com

JB!! aka Dirty Moses is a veteran MC, writer, and performer hailing from Harlem, NY. A natural showman, JB!! is well known for his energy and charisma on stage, as well as his diverse arsenal of verbal weaponry. When JB!! isn’t demolishing microphones, you can catch him producing, DJing, beatboxing, or pretty much anything else related to hip-hop

www.jbakadirtymoses.com

Pop & Obachan are playing bocce in the park together right now. Pop & Obachan watch national geographic specials after dinner. Pop & Obachan drink water before bed. Pop & Obachan [oh-BAH-chon] met in World War II and couldn’t speak the same language. They fell in love immediately. Fast forward a few decades to Emma Tringali & Jake Smisloff, building a creative home using the Pop & Obachan namesake. The two embody the P&O name to create music, illustrations, photographs, silkscreening, in a safe and endlessly imaginative arena. Emma (vocals, organ) & Jake (guitar) write and record the music and are joined on stage by Evan Daves (drums), Del Montgomery (bass), Cian McCarthy (guitar), and Matia Emsellem (vocals) to create a six piece reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, Broadcast, Harry Nilsson, and Camera Obscura. With subtle folk undertones and a tinge of psychedelic pop, Pop & Obachan will “sweep you away with their perfect balance of fluttering guitars and atmospheric synths.” – Baebel Music (http://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/4-6-2016/the-embodiment-of-easygoing-frankie-cosmos-at-shea-stadium.html) <3

http://www.chaoschaosmusic.com/

Pavo Pavo is an experimental pop band from Brooklyn, NY. Their debut record, Young Narrator in the Breakers, will be released in November 2016. The band started writing together while studying music at Yale, and since then its five members have worked closely with indie and classical heavyweights such as Here We Go Magic, Roomful of Teeth, Dave Longstreth, and San Fermin. Stereogum describes their music as “weightless pop that sounds like it was beamed down from a utopian future” Young Narrator in the Breakers walks through its songs with symphonic elegance – guitar stabs, washed out harmonies, and rumbling synthesizers come and go like guests at a party. The record describes the magic and panic of adult life; a breaker is a wave whose potential energy is being transformed into turbulent kinetic energy. Co-produced by Danny Molad (Lucius) and Sam Cohen (Yellowbirds), it is a romantic record in the tradition of Elephant 6, and a cohesive record in the tradition of Grizzly Bear. It’s our pleasure to introduce: Pavo Pavo.

Uni Ika Ai is a blending of flavors and an attraction of opposites. The project was born out of improvisation and experimentation, when Maia Friedman (Bobby, Toebow) and Peter Lalish (Lucius, Ximena Sariñana, Elizabeth & The Catapult) began writing and recording demos together in 2014. When Tom Deis (Via Audio) and Dan Drohan heard these recordings, they were inspired by the seed of a brilliant new band. The four veterans of the Brooklyn music scene felt a new and different sound come alive. After playing all together as a band only a handful of times, they went into the studio intending to record an EP and came out with an full length album, produced by D. James Goodwin (Yellowbirds, Landlady, Devo, Kaki King, Bob Weir). The album finds beauty in perfect doses of peace and chaos, and far exceeds the sum of its parts.

www.uniikaai.com

https://soundcloud.com/uniikaai/soft-in-ice

Frank McGinnis is deeply rooted in the HV music scene, starting as a member of Frankie and His Fingers. After various other projects and home recorded albums, he’s back in the studio working with producer Jeremy Backofen, cutting a new record on which he gets his hands on every instrument in reach, painting a landscape of pastoral guitar pop that’s equally existential and bright. Frank’s live show features a revolving door of HV veterans to bring to life the energy of the record.

https://soundcloud.com/frank-mcginnis/hz-single-edit

Eskalators are part band and part public performance piece. As if being a ska-influenced band in the Brooklyn indie scene isn’t already enough to raise some eyebrows, the band’s infamous and well-documented subway car performances have grabbed the attention of the Village Voice, the New York Post and Time Out New York. Eskalators formed in 2007 and performed their first show on—yes—an escalator in the Mall of America, and have since gone on to incorporate 18 members. The band combines melodic and raw power-pop/punk vocals and power chords, a horn section, and everything from flute and glockenspiel to djembe. The songs are instantly infectious—melodic hooks abound. The Eskalators aren’t totally a ska band (and to be fair, not everyone in the band grew up listening to ska) there’s enough pop melody and instrumental variety to push the band into other musical categories, and anyone with an interest in fun, energetic, and well-crafted songs should hop on board and sing along.

http://eskalators.com/

Max’s New Hat is an Electro~Balkan outfit that plays rousing dance party and wedding musics of Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria. Featuring Katy Kondrat on vocals; Timothy Allen on sax; Max Fass on accordion; Pete Newman on Bass; Roger LaRochelle on drums. Mac & Cheeze is a 2 man (occasionally a 3rd as percussionist) outfit playing upbeat Balkan dance music in a stripped down rustic folk style including Roma; Macedonian; Greek; Bulgarian; Turkish and original folk~dance music. This band excels at wandering from site to site, hobo style, playing on top of bars or tables, or remaining in a fixed location and generally stirring up trouble (or not).